Israel Strikes Syria To Protect Druze Allies Being Slaughtered By Syrian Forces

Syrian forces loyal to Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are attacking and reportedly slaughtering members of that country’s Druze community, prompting Israel to strike back to protect them.

Al-Jolani was previously the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, before taking over Syria in the wake of the defeat of former President Bashar al-Assad. On Tuesday, HTS forces entered the Druze-majority city of Sweida.

Suwayda: Syrian regime personnel brutally beat #Druze who are handcuffed with their hands behind their backs.

This is what European leaders are giving a pass to. pic.twitter.com/rtLj6tCrLB

— Dr. Fundji Benedict (@Fundji3) July 15, 2025

This is how being a Druze right now in south #Syria feels like. This young man whispers into the camera asking for help, says Islamist Syrian government's Military Police are currently firing on his house, causing fires. His family is suffocating and moving between rooms to… pic.twitter.com/Bzb7LHtgwX

— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) July 16, 2025

“A Suweida resident told BBC Arabic the situation in the city was ‘catastrophic,’ with indiscriminate shooting prompting people to ‘flee towards the countryside’ despite a curfew declared by Syrian authorities,” the BBC reported.

“A people that survived the Holocaust will not stay silent as a peaceful community is slaughtered on its border. The West’s silence and hypocrisy over Syria’s horrors will not be forgotten. This is a war of light vs. darkness-good vs. evil,” Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism, wrote on X.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Syrian officials and Druze leaders announced a ceasefire, adding, “It was not immediately clear if the new agreement, announced by Syrian Interior Ministry and in a video message by a Druze religious leader, would hold.”

A people that survived the Holocaust will not stay silent as a peaceful community is slaughtered on its border.

The West’s silence and hypocrisy over Syria’s horrors will not be forgotten.

This is a war of light vs. darkness-good vs. evil. pic.twitter.com/CIAxdAqPxI

— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) July 16, 2025

The report of a ceasefire came after the Israel Defense Forces hit the military headquarters and the Presidential Palace in Damascus with airstrikes. Druze in Sweida showed their gratitude to Israel for defending them by flying the Israeli flag.

WATCH

The Druze hang an Israeli flag on the roof of one of the buildings in Suwayda, Syria. pic.twitter.com/0bMSmSvP56

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 16, 2025

According to the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, as far back as the 1930s, Muslims assassinated “prominent Druze figures advocating collaboration with Jews,” and Druze served valiantly with Jews in Israel’s War of Independence. In 1957, as requested by the leaders of the Druze community, the Israeli government designated Druze Israelis as a distinct religious community. More than 80 percent of Druze men enlist in the IDF; many Druze soldiers have fallen in the fight against Hamas in Gaza.

Many Druze residents of the Golan Heights have applied for Israeli citizenship, especially after the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 Druze children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in July 2024.

In 2017, two Druze border police officers, Haiel Sitawe, 30, and Kamil Shnaan, 22, were shot dead in a Palestinian terrorist attack on the Temple Mount. Sitawe was the father of a three-week-old son; Shnaan was planning to announce his engagement to his girlfriend the following week. In 2014, Druze police officer Zidan Seif died from wounds he suffered protecting Jews praying at a Jerusalem synagogue during a terrorist attack; he had a seven-month-old daughter.

Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, the president of Yakir, an organization focused on Druze-Jewish relations, told the Algemeiner that for Druze, they regarded the deaths as destiny, adding, “It’s very painful, but they are also very proud that their young people make the same sacrifices as the young Jewish women and men who defend Israel.”